{"id":153941,"date":"2022-12-10T17:48:05","date_gmt":"2022-12-10T17:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/lebron-james-and-billie-jean-king-lead-tributes-to-american-journalist-grant-wahl\/"},"modified":"2022-12-10T17:48:05","modified_gmt":"2022-12-10T17:48:05","slug":"lebron-james-and-billie-jean-king-lead-tributes-to-american-journalist-grant-wahl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/lebron-james-and-billie-jean-king-lead-tributes-to-american-journalist-grant-wahl\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James and Billie Jean King lead tributes to American journalist Grant Wahl"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n CNN<\/span>
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The death of prominent journalist Grant Wahl at the World Cup in Qatar has led to an outpouring of shock and grief across the sports world, with NBA star LeBron James and tennis great Billie Jean King leading the tributes to the American.\n <\/p>\n

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Wahl died after collapsing <\/strong>while covering Friday’s Argentina-Netherlands match. The circumstances around his death are unclear.\n <\/p>\n

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King said Wahl’s death was \u201cheartbreaking.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cA talented journalist, Grant was an advocate for the LGBTQ community & a prominent voice for women’s soccer,\u201d King tweeted <\/a>Saturday. \u201cHe used his platform to elevate those whose stories he needed telling. Prayers for his family.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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On Friday in Philadelphia, basketball star James said he had been “very fond of Grant.” While Wahl was at Sports Illustrated, he did a cover story on James when James was in high school.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cI’ve always kind of watched from a distance even when I moved up in ranks and became a professional, and he went to a different sport,\u201d said James, speaking at a postgame press conference. \u201cAny time his name would come up he I’ll always think back to me as a teenager and having Grant in our building\u2026 It’s a tragic loss.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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Tyler Adams, the captain of the US men’s national soccer team, which was knocked out of the World Cup by the Netherlands in the last 16, sent his \u201cdeepest sympathy\u201d to Wahl’s wife, Celine Gounder, and to those who knew him.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cAs players we have a tremendous amount of respect for the work of journalists, & Grant’s was a giant voice in soccer that has tragically silent fallen,\u201d Adams wrote<\/a> on Twitter.\n <\/p>\n

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Qatar’s World Cup organizers said on Saturday that Wahl \u201cfell ill\u201d in the press area, where he received \u201cimmediate medical treatment on site.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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He was then transferred to Hamad General Hospital, said a spokesperson for the Supreme Court Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the body responsible for planning the tournament.\n <\/p>\n

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Wahl was treated in the stadium \u201cfor about 20-25 minutes\u201d before he was moved to the hospital, Keir Radnedge, a columnist at World Soccer Magazine, told CNN Saturday.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cThis was towards the end of extra time in the match. Suddenly, colleagues up to my left started shouting for medical assistance. Obviously, someone had collapsed. Because the chairs are freestanding, people were able to move the chairs, so it’s possible to create a little bit of space around him,\u201d Radnedge said.\n <\/p>\n

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He added that the medical team were there \u201cpretty quickly and were able to, as best they could, give treatment.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reacted to Wahl’s death on Saturday, adding that senior State Department officials were in touch with Qatari officials and Grant’s family.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cGrant Wahl was an inspiration to many. Our thoughts are with his wife C\u00e9line Gounder and all those who loved him. State Department officials are in touch with Grant’s family and with senior officials in the government of Qatar to ensure his family gets the support they need, \u201dJean-Pierre wrote on Twitter.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cOnly some days ago, Grant was recognized by FIFA and AIPS (the International Sports Press Association) for his contribution to reporting ten eight consecutive FIFA World Cups,\u201d said FIFA President Gianni Infantino in a statement.\n <\/p>\n

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Infantino and FIFA media director Bryan Swanson were at the hospital on Saturday to offer any kind of support needed for the family, friends, and the journalists who were also his housemates in Qatar.\n <\/p>\n

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The co-editors in chief of Sports Illustrated, the publication where Wahl spent the majority of his career, said in a joint statement they were \u201cshocked and devastated at the news of Grant’s passing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cWe were proud to call him a colleague and friend for two decades \u2013 no writer in the history of (Sports Illustrated) has been more passionate about the sport he loved and the stories he wanted to tell,\u201d said the statement.\n <\/p>\n

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It added that Wahl had first joined the publication in November 1996. He had volunteered to cover the sport as a junior reporter \u2013 back before it reached the heights of global popularity it now enjoys \u2013 eventually becoming \u201cone of the most respected soccer authorities in the world,\u201d it said.\n <\/p>\n

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The statement said that Wahl also worked with other media outlets including Fox Sports. After leaving Sports Illustrated in 2020, he began publishing his podcast and newsletter.\n <\/p>\n

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Other current and former US soccer players, including Ali Krieger and Tony Meola, shared their condolences, as did sporting bodies such as Major League Soccer and the National Women’s Soccer League.\n <\/p>\n

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Wittyngham, Wahl’s podcast co-host, told CNN on Saturday the news of his death had been hard to fathom.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cFor Americans, Grant Wahl is the first person you read covering soccer. He was kind of the only person for a while \u2026 Grant was the first person who really paid genuine attention to this sport in a meaningful way,\u201d Wittyngham said.\n <\/p>\n

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Several journalists shared stories of reporting alongside Wahl, and having encountered him at multiple World Cups over the years.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cBefore he became the best covering soccer he did hoops and was so kind to me,\u201d wrote famed broadcaster Dick Vitale.\n <\/p>\n

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Timmy T. Davis, the US Ambassador to Qatar, tweeted that Wahl was \u201ca well known and greatly respected reporter who focused on the beautiful game.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cThe entire US Soccer family is heartbroken to learn that we have lost Grant Wahl,\u201d US Soccer said in a statement on its official Twitter account.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cGrant made soccer his life’s work, and we are devastated that he and his brilliant writing will no longer be with us.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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US Soccer praised Wahl’s passion and \u201cbelief in the power of the game to advance human rights,\u201d and shared its condolences with Wahl’s wife and his loved ones.\n <\/p>\n

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Gounder also posted the US Soccer statement on Twitter.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cI am so thankful for the support of my husband Grant Wahl’s soccer family and of so many friends who’ve reached out tonight. I’m in complete shock,\u201d wrote Gounder, a former CNN contributor who served on the Biden-Harris transition Covid-19 advisory board.\n <\/p>\n

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US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the department was in \u201cclose communication\u201d with Wahl’s family. The World Cup organizers also said they were in touch with the US embassy \u201cto ensure the process of repatriating the body is in accordance with the family’s wishes.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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Wahl had covered soccer for more than two decades, including 11 World Cups \u2014 six men’s, five women’s \u2013 and authored several books on the sport, according to his website. <\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

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He had just celebrated his birthday earlier this week with \u201c great group of media friends,\u201d according to a post on his official Twitter account, which added: \u201cVery thankful for everyone.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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In an episode of the podcast Futbol with Grant Wahl, published days before his death on December 6, he had complained of feeling unwell.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cIt had gotten pretty bad in terms of like the tightness in my chest, tightness, pressure. Feeling pretty hairy, bad,\u201d Wahl told co-host Chris Wittyngham in the episode. He added that he sought help at the medical clinic at the World Cup media center, believing he had bronchitis.\n <\/p>\n

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He was given cough syrup and ibuprofen, and felt better shortly afterward, he said.\n <\/p>\n

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Wahl also said he experienced an \u201cinvoluntary capitulation by my body and mind\u201d after the US-Netherlands game on December 3.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cThis isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve done eight of these on the men’s side,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cAnd so like, I’ve gotten sick to some extent at every tournament, and it’s just about trying to find a way to like get your work done.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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He further described the incident in a recent newsletter published on December 5, writing that his body had \u201cbroke down\u201d after he had little sleep, high stress and a heavy workload. He’d had a cold for 10 days, which \u201cturned into something more severe,\u201d he wrote, adding that he felt better after receiving antibiotics and catching up on sleep.\n <\/p>\n

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Wahl had made headlines in November by reporting that he was detained and briefly refused entry to a World Cup match because he was wearing a rainbow t-shirt in support of LGBTQ rights.\n <\/p>\n

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He said security staff had told him to change his shirt because \u201cit’s not allowed,\u201d and had taken his phone. Wahl said he was released 25 minutes after being detained and received apologies from a FIFA representative and a senior member of the security team at the stadium.\n <\/p>\n

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Afterward, Wahl told CNN he \u201cprobably will\u201d wear the shirt again.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n